I am an elementary teacher who has seen excellent colleagues leave the profession because they don't feel free to do what's best for kids. I have been rated poorly based on my students' performance on the state test while I was on maternity leave. The next year I was rated much better...because I was actually at my job for the full year. This system is highly flawed. Merit pay incentives will only make the situation worse.

New York State owes New York City schools billions of dollars. This money is needed to increase the quality and effectiveness of public education. Charter schools can and do raise money in obscene amounts. That money is NOT governed by the same guidelines as money the public schools are allocated by the state. When charters are co-located in our public school buildings, they create a caste system in an already segregated school system. They create a “have” and “have not” situation in schools, with the real public schools being the “have nots.” That being said: When at the 11th hour before 2014's state elections, legislation was hurried through changing the rules governing charter schools. They do NOT have to pay rent, nor do they have to find their own space. More importantly, New York City has to find space for them in existing public schools or find them space elsewhere and the city must pay for their rent and renovations. The money to do this would come from OUR school budget, and taking money from OUR school budget means less in our classrooms. This causes the quality of our children's education to decrease, thereby creating an unequal public education system which is constitutional right of EVERY child in the United States! That being said: This petition is to request that New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman investigate the civil rights violations these actions pose on students in New York City's real public schools. Furthermore: Please view the the document below showing the contributions made to Governor Cuomo by charter school proponents, totaling over $1.6 million. Eva Moskowitz and her cohorts have donated almost $700 thousand alone. These figures strongly suggest that the governor was and is complicit in these civil rights violations. Andrew Cuomo’s Campaign Contributors With Charter Schools Affiliation Great Public Schools PAC Belongs to Eva Moskowitz CEO of Success Academy $65,000 Joel GreenBlatt Success Academy co-founder $50,000 Julia Greenblatt Joel Greenblatt’s wife $23,000 John Petry Success Academy co-founder $60,000 Samuel Cole Success Academy Board $42,500 Bryan Binder Success Academy Board $20,000 Jill Braufman Success Academy Board $57,500 Daniel Loeb Success Academy Board, StudentFirstNY BOD $60, 367 Margaret Loeb Daniel Loeb’s wife $29,000 John H. Scully Success Academy Board $50,000 Daniel Nir Success Academy Board $65,000 Charles Strauch Success Academy Board $25,000 Jarrett Posner Success Academy Board $2,500 Andrew Stone Success Academy Board $60,000 Dana Stone Andrew Stone’s wife $25,000 Gregory Sawers Success Academy Board $10,000 Catherine Shainker Success Academy Board $2,000 Suleman Lunat Success Academy Board $1,000 Kent Yalowitz Success Academy Board $5,000 Steven M. Galbraith Success Academy Board $35,000 Larry Robbins KIPP NY Board (charter school organization) $90,800 Winston Fischer Civic Builders BOD (non-profit developer specializing in charter school construction) $64,500 Jessica Fischer Winston Fischer’s wife $13,000 Kenneth Fischer Winston Fischer’s brother $67,500 Steven Fischer ...

I am asking your help to get the day care subsidies for poor families reinstated. These are federal funds that Illinois got and diverted to other uses. I am a director at the not-for-profit West Austin Development Center where 200 needy kids are about to be sent home, the teachers are working without the promise of pay and the last of the reserves are being used to pay the rent and keep the heat on. If we don't get funded by February 20, we have to close the doors.

I am a mother, a grandmother, a teacher, a senior citizen and a voter. I consider the thought of merit pay for teachers to be appalling. I would find it equally distasteful should it apply to healthcare, public safety, or the military and no one with any sense would consider such a thing, so why is it being considered for children's learning? Politicians should keep the private sector out of public education. Let them start their own private schools, they can well afford it. Public money is for public education. Stop the nonsense, please. There should be some things that money can't buy. This is one of them. TEACHERS TEACH BECAUSE THEY CAN, NOT BECAUSE THEY NEED A MONETARY REWARD.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that teens start school no earlier than 8:30 AM. Schools that have met this standard are already enjoying the benefits of decreased rates of teen car accidents, substance abuse, obesity, depression, and anxiety – and better academic performance. All Massachusetts schools could enjoy similar success. Statewide support in the form of legislation will help Massachusetts communities mobilize to meet the goal of healthier school start times – and will help coordinate across-town scheduling for academic, athletic, and other competitions and events, which otherwise can be a logistical roadblock. Statewide legislation also avoids the barriers inherent in a piecemeal town-by-town effort, to ensure that the health and well being of our children remains paramount.

Even though the UCLA Academic Senate passed the Diversity Requirement in October, a petition from faculty to push for a revote has stalled all progress from our efforts as Bruins! UCLA remains one of the last TWO campuses in the UC Undergraduate system to not institute a Diversity Requirement, please sign this petition to show that we as Bruins need to have a collective voice in favor of this program! Also, in order to show your support, please email your UCLA professors to encourage them to vote yes on the Diversity Requirement when the vote opens on Feb. 25 - March 10!

As parent of a High school student, I think this change will make a difference to all students' health and academic achievement. It can be done: please see http://www.startschoollater.net/success-stories.html

A wonderful girl who we all grew up with in the Whitman cluster is going to have to move schools, going to a (sometimes labeled "worse") school because she is not allowed to keep attending the same school she has been for her whole life. Is that really fair?

Over 500 families and 200 educators and administrators form a close-knit community in Gharrafa, in an international school that caters to students of all nationalities. ACS Doha has been a positive contributor to the education landscape in Doha and last week the community was informed the school may face closure due to lease agreement issues. We call for a resolution to this issue and implore the SEC and government entities to aid us in ensuring the continuity in our children's education.

Starting in Fall of 2015, no open blocks will be allowed to the juniors or even the seniors. I feel as if this would be a very beneficial time allowed to the students. Our education is our future and students need this time to study and prepare.

Education is critical to the long-term success of Texas, but for too long political motivations have held back students and teachers. In 2011, the state education system saw billions of dollars cut from programs, costing schools and teachers in a big way. What’s more, the Texas school finance system was recently ruled unconstitutional, and is caught in a legal battle that could drag this fight out beyond the legislative session. That’s why we’re calling on the Texas State Legislature to stop the political games and get serious right now. Add your name and call on them to restore funding to our schools and fix the system. We need your voice!

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that teens start school no earlier than 8:30 AM. Schools that have met this standard are already enjoying the benefits of decreased rates of teen car accidents, substance abuse, obesity, depression, and anxiety – and better academic performance. All Massachusetts schools could enjoy similar success. Statewide support in the form of legislation will help Massachusetts communities mobilize to meet the goal of healthier school start times – and will help coordinate across-town scheduling for academic, athletic, and other competitions and events, which otherwise can be a logistical roadblock. Statewide legislation also avoids the barriers inherent in a piecemeal town-by-town effort, to ensure that the health and well being of our children remains paramount.